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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life by Avinash K. Dixit

From Publishers Weekly

Most books on game theory either focus on specialized applications (cardplaying, business, nuclear war) or bore with mathematics and jargon. Free of formulas and argot, this refreshing exception distills the principles, concepts, tools and techniques--brinkmanship, bargaining, unconditional moves, vicious circles, etc.--with an astonishing diversity of illustrative examples drawn from political campaigns, baseball, neighborhood dynamics of segregation, the military draft, speed limits, childrearing and so forth. In helping strategists anticipate rivals' responses and win the game, economics professors Dixit and Nalebuff (who teach game theory at Princeton and Yale, respectively) provide managers, negotiators, athletes, parents and other game-players with a formidable weapon. Drawings. BOMC, Fortune Book Club and QPB selections.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A gem of a book. It makes some important insights on the frontiers of economics and game theory easily accessible, tremendously enjoyable, and practically useful. (Buron G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street )

Dixit and Nalebuff set out sure-fire rules for thinking about strategy. (David Henderson - Fortune )

A fascinating new book that can be read with real pleasure. . . . The problem is, of course that if Dixit and Nalebuff can improve your strategic IQ, they can improve your competitor's as well—and the Japanese rights were sold months ago. (David Warsh - Washington Post )

Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life Book Review

The international bestseller—don't compete without it! A major bestseller in Japan, Financial Times Top Ten book of the year, Book-of-the-Month Club bestseller, and required reading at the best business schools, Thinking Strategically is a crash course in outmaneauvering any rival. This entertaining guide builds on scores of case studies taken from business, sports, the movies, politics, and gambling. It outlines the basics of good strategy making and then shows how you can apply them in any area of your life.

About the Author:Avinash K. Dixit

Avinash K. Dixit is John J.F. Sherrerd University Professor of Economics at Princeton University, where he offers his popular freshman course in game theory. He is among the world’s leading economists, having made fundamental contributions in several major fields, including Game Theory. He is world famous. He is the author of many books, including Thinking Strategically (Norton, 1991), Investment Under Uncertainty (Princeton UP, 1994), and The Art of Strategy (Norton, 2009).

Barry J. Nalebuff is the Milton Steinbach Professor at the Yale School of Management. Nalebuff applies game theory to business strategy and is the co-founder of one of America's fastest-growing companies, Honest Tea.

From The Washington Post

A fascinating new book that can be read with real pleasure....The problem is, of course, that if Dixit and Nalebuff can improve your strategic IQ, they can improve your competitor's as well.